13104: Dung beetles address soil fertility and environmental health

Dung beetles bury dung in brood chambers (pictured) up to 60cm deep in the soil. Each chamber is about 1cm wide and there are often around eight beneath a cow pat. Every cow drops about 10 pats a day providing plenty of work for local beetles.

Australia has around 350 species of native dung beetle and 23
species introduced from Hawaii, Africa and southern Europe.
Most native species eat marsupial dung (from kangaroos and
wallabies) and are not well suited to processing the moist dung of
cattle.

Introduced dung beetles are very useful in agricultural regions
as they are able to bury large volumes of cattle dung, with many
benefits for:

soil structure and fertility

water infiltration and runoff

pasture growth and productivity

biological control of bush fly

minimising loss of nitrogen (NH3, N2O)
and carbon (CO2) to the atmosphere.

A colony of dung beetle (Bubas bison) will be
established on Bannister Downs Dairy farm in Northcliffe to
investigate their impact on soil structure, chemistry, fertility
and biology (including earthworms) under perennial pasture.

Changes to the soil will be measured to a depth of 60
centimetres to see if the dung beetles work is effective in
reducing compaction and fertiliser input needs and sequestering
carbon.